Everything You Need To Know About 'The Magnificent Seven'

In keeping with Hollywood's latest obsession with adding numbers to its movie title and reviving properties from yesteryear, we will next see Hollywood A-listers Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt star in The Magnificent Seven.

What's so "magnificent" about it and why should you care about this movie, you ask? Here's everything you need to know about The Magnificent Seven.

As most of your grandfathers will tell you, The Magnificent Seven is a remake of a western movie of the same name that came out way back in 1960. You know that song that comes to your head every time you think about cowboys? That song is from that movie. Starring screen legends such as Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn and Yul Brynner, the original version of the film is considered a classic enjoying a "certified fresh" rating of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. It is also the second most shown film on US television history. But what others might not now is that original The Magnificent Seven is also a remake itself, drawing inspiration from Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. Seven Samurai, in turn, is said to have been based on the story of The Three Musketeers. So the 2016 version is actually a remake of a remake of a remake. (Remake inception!)

The plot is simple enough and is the same for all three versions of the movie. A village is ransacked and pillaged by a group of bandits and the villagers decide to ask for help from a gunslinger/samurai (it varies of course depending on the version you watch) and this reluctant hero recruits legendary shooters/samurai to help him save the village from it's oppressors. It's a classic good versus evil story that everyone can relate to. Simply put, sila yungThe Avengersng mga lolo natin nung hindi pa uso ang mga superhero na nakasuot ng bakat na skintight suits.

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2) It features a multi-cultural cast

How you think you and your squad look like when you enter The Palace Pool Club

The role of the grizzled warrior that the villagers run to for help in the latest version of The Magnificent Seven goes to award-winning actor Denzel Washington who plays Sam Chisolm, a bounty hunter similar to the role that Christoph Waltz recently played in Django Unchained. Chisolm rounds up a motley crew of skilled fighters, gamblers, and gunslingers in the likes of Josh Faraday (Chris Pratt), sharpshooter Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke), frontiersman Jack Horne (Vincent D'Onofrio), Asian knife expert Billy Rocks (Byung-Hun Lee), Mexican bandit Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), and Native American Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier).

All these guys have different backstories and varying reasons for joining the fight against industrialist Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard). Who knows, maybe they can add a Filipino arnis expert if and when there's a sequel!

From right to left: Antoine Fuqua, Denzel Washington, and not Ethan Hawke

The Magnificent Seven is actually a reunion of sorts for actors Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke with director Antoine Fuqua. The trio first worked together in Training Day, another classic that earned Washington an Oscar for Best Actor. (It's on the list of movies that all guys need to watch at least once in their lives so make sure to watch it. Yes, the list is imaginary and I made it up just now.)

He and Fuqua would work together in The Equalizer, but it's the first time that they'll be reuniting with Hawke, who was also brilliant in the movie Training Day. (Sabi nang panoorin mo eh!) Fans of the movie will appreciate that.

4) The film will introduce you to Hollywood's next big actress

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Doesn't she remind you of a redheaded Jennifer Lawrence?

The villager who asked for The Magnificent Seven's help in this movie is played by the beautiful Haley Bennett, who might remind you of a redheaded Jennifer Lawrence. You'll soon be seeing her in movies such The Girl on the Train and Warren Beatty's Rules Don't Apply. Those are probably not the last times you'll see her too.

5) Fans of the Western and action genre will like the movie

All black tapos mataas ang sikat ng araw? One word: Jabar

I actually caught a sneak preview of the movie and enjoyed it. Think of it as The Avengers in Western setting. Each member has their own unique set of skills to offer. Denzel Washington has never really been part of an ensemble cast before so he doesn't get the chance to show off his wares too much in this movie unlike what we're used to seeing from him. He's like LeBron James during an All-Star Game. Still great and you'll probably get a highlight or two from him but he doesn't need to carry the movie.

Chris Pratt delivers on the comedy as expected. It seems like he's playing the same characters he played in Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World but this time dressed up in a cowboy outfit and given two guns to shoot. I don't know if that's a good thing or not for him, but Chris Pratt starrers are always fun to watch.

The movie has a lot of gunfights, fistfights, tough-talk and explosions which most fans of the genre will enjoy. But unlike The Expendables movies which feature the same elements, there is an actual plot (although pretty straightforward) to follow in The Magnificent Seven and not just mindless violence. Though the movie doesn't come close to being the classic that the original or Seven Samurai were, it's still a fun two-hours at the cinema.

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The movie comes out in the Philippines starting September 21, 2016.

P.S. Panoorin niyo yung Training Day. Seryoso.

Rey de la Cruz Jr. likes talking about films as much as he likes watching them. He runswww.reyview.org, a site that provides Filipino moviegoers with reviews written in a voice that is uniquely Pinoy.